Cal Crutchlow fastest on final day of 2013 MotoGP testing

Cal Crutchlow ended the 2013 MotoGP pre-season in the best way possible after the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider topped the timesheets on the final day of testing in Jerez.

The British rider set a best time of 1.39.511 late on the final afternoon to lap marginally quicker than factory Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi’s best lap of 1.39.525 that the Italian set yesterday.

Early morning rain and a slow drying track in Jerez meant the final day of the 2013 MotoGP pre-season turned out to be a frustrating affair for long periods.

Forecasts for fine weather early in the day were quickly proven to be wrong when heavy rain started to fall on the track shortly after it was opened for action at 10am.

The rain didn’t last for long but a strong wind failed to dry the track out for any slick tyre testing until just over two hours remained on the clock.

When conditions did improve though there was a late flurry of action as the field worked on final tweaks and set-up changes with the next track action being practice for the opening round in Qatar.

Crutchlow claimed the bragging rights with his lap of 1.39.511 putting him 0.224s clear of nine-times world champion, who was second with a quickest pace of 1.39.735.That was just slower over 0.2s than his benchmark from a rain-hit second day.

German Stefan Bradl was third quickest in the shortened session today, the LCR Honda rider ending with a best of 1.39.975.

Reigning world champion managed to squeeze in 41 laps, which gave him the chance to assess a new Yamaha YZR-M1 chassis, to finish fourth quickest. He set a best time of 1.40.105.

Marc Marquez was fifth while Andrea Iannone completed the top six on the Pramac Ducati.British rider Bradley Smith was 11th quickest after he got in crucial seat time on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 in the dry.

His best time of 1.41.134 on his final lap was 1.623s behind teammate Crutchlow. Irish rider Michael Laverty was 19th on the British-built PBM chassis. He set a best time of 1.42.470 to finish ahead of Bryan Staring, Colin Edwards and Hector Barbera.

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa left the Jerez track early with nothing to test in the wet and he was also satisfied with his dry set-up, so he was long gone by the time the track dried.

Ben Spies also didn’t ride, with low track temperatures seeing him not want to take any risks of aggravating his recovering right shoulder he first damaged in Sepang last October.